The Scourge of the Titans, A New Hope
by Caerus
Summary: I was a normal, average girl. I led a normal, average life. That is until the last day of my freshman year of High School... I blame it all on the goat-boy... on near-permenant HIATUS. Major retconning to be done.
1. Enter: Allison Cleak

* * *

**The Scourge of the Titans, a New Hope**

_Chapter 1_

_Enter: Allison Cleak_

_Beep, beep, beep_. I woke with a start as I silently cursed my alarm clock and stood to turn it off. "Its always the best part too…" I said through a yawn as I stretched and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. As I went to get into the shower I thought about the dream I was having before the alarm clock interrupted it. I was in a palace of sorts, and I was kneeling before my mother, who was smiling at me.

Or at least I thought it was my mother; she looked like I had always envisioned she would; she had my eyes, or rather I had hers. They were the same warm, milk chocolate brown with flecks of gold in them. Our hair color was similar, not quite honey blond, but with tones reminiscent of it in our light brown hair; but our styling was almost as different as you could get, with mine being just above my shoulders and paper-straight. She however, wore hers down just past her waist with intricate curls (this made me just the slightest bit angry, as I'd always wanted curly hair). Our complexions were the same, not completely translucent, but certainly not tan in any sense.

I never knew my mother. My father told me that she was in a car accident just months after I was born. The only memory I have of her is her smile. That's why I thought the woman from my dream was my mother; her smile made every thing feel like it was going to be okay. It didn't matter that I was a complete screw-up, or that I'd been expelled from every school I'd enrolled in since Kindergarten. None of that mattered, because my mom would make everything ok.

I stopped thinking about the dream once I'd gotten out of the shower. Instead, I turned my attention to the day ahead. It was the last day of school, and I hadn't gotten expelled yet. I muttered under my breath something similar to 'New high score!' As I dried off, I thought about the previous year, and the friends that I'd made. It was too bad I'd never see them again; most of them were really nice…

I like school; I just can't seem to get anywhere; high D's are rare for me. Its probably due to my dyslexia and attention deficit disorder- although I don't use them as excuses. I know that I have them, and I make due with them. I thought more about school as I got dressed and left my room to get some breakfast.

As I walked into the kitchen I saw my dad. I stepped on a squeaky board in the floor and he looked up from the newspaper he'd been reading. "Good morning, sunshine! Last day of school, and you've made it this year! I'm so proud of you." He was beaming from head to toe with excitement- and a little bit of apprehension. After all, it's never too late to be expelled, right?

Theodore Cleak was an almost gangly man, in his early thirties with a crinkly smile and warm features. He's easily flustered, but you could never catch him without a smile- that's what I love about him. He'd never lose hope. Especially when it came to me; every year when I'd been expelled or been involved in some major freak accident; such as, last year when my English teacher, Ms. Dodds, suddenly and quite painfully (it sounded painful, at least) spontaneously combusted in front of me and two other students. He'd always just say: "Ok, we'll just have to try again next year!" That was what he did, he made me have hope- otherwise, I would have lost hope a long time ago.

As I continued to mull over my father's better qualities, I glanced at the clock and consequently freaked out. "Holy crap, its time to go! Love you, Dad! I'll see you after school!" I hurriedly rushed out the words, along with bits of the toast I'd been gnawing on earlier as I pecked my father on the cheek and ran out to catch the subway.

"Ok, I love you too Allison. Have a great day! Don't start any fires or anything!" My father yelled after me, thinking that I was already out of earshot.

_Ha ha Dad, very funny._ I thought as I ran through thick nets of bodies on a crowded Lower East Side sidewalk. Yes that's right, I have a very real, very irrational fear of fire. What's it to you? So what if every time I see a fire my knees shake worse than San Francisco during a good earthquake. So what if I break into a cold sweat that would put arctic waters to shame. So what if one time I actually forgot my name as I stared at a person on fire; a person who I had secretly been wishing- not just wishing, _hoping_ would catch fire, one who was three feet away from me and was screaming the most horrible screech ever as she was burned alive. Ms. Dodds.

* * *

I had an eerie feeling as I bought my subway ticket and proceeded to walk into the car. It was almost like I was being watched… But why would someone be watching me? Then I saw him. I didn't get a good look; he saw me and turned away, but I'd seen his eyes, one was blue and the other was brown. He had chiseled features and a crew cut to match; his clothes didn't fit his appearance, though. It looked like he was acting a part, a soldier cast as a business executive. "Oh well, like he matters, what's he gonna do to me on the subway?" I mumbled to myself as I sat down in the car, trying to put the man out of my mind.

Four stops and a little walk later, and I was standing in front of Travers High School. It was an inconspicuous building with a supermarket on one side and the subway station on the other (I did say it was a little walk). As I walked up the stairs, I searched the crowd that had accumulated on them for anyone that I knew. What I got in return for my curiosity were several startled glares from people who had glanced away from their previous activity, only to find a very average, very timid girl looking back at them. Not everyone glared though, one person looked like I'd just told him that I loved him or something.

He had a wispy beard and several splotches of acne across his face. He was taller than everyone else and had a very lanky look to him. He was wearing a green Rasta cap over his dark curly hair, a plain white t-shirt, and blue jeans that went down over his black converse high-tops. I didn't notice it, but I must've stopped moving because he suddenly smiled a small crooked smile and started walking towards me with a curious gait, that almost looked like a limp.

As he got closer, I lowered my face and blushed, then started walking forward again. I was trying to ignore him; but to no avail; as he persisted and changed course to intercept me just before the door to the school. When we had both reached the door, he stood in front of me, blocking my way. "Hey, how's it going? I'm Grover. We haven't talked at all this year, have we?" Grover, his name was Grover… I like it. I smiled at him and said, "No, I don't believe we have… Grover." I held out my hand, "I'm Allison, Allison Cleak." He took my hand in his and we shook.

"I don't know why we haven't, we were in almost all the same classes. But it's nice to meet you all the same, Miss Cleak." He smiled his crooked smile again.

I flushed a bit at his smile, "Now that you mention it, I have seen you before, but I promise, it was nothing personal- me not talking to you that is. I don't talk to anyone really." I took my hand from his and wrapped it around my other arm, an old nervous habit of mine.

"Oh, I know, I've been watching you," at this revelation, the look on my face must have been positively scandalous, because he quickly corrected himself. "B-but not like that! I swear! Just watching you at lunch and stuff. During art, when you paint." He hung his head in defeat, and moved out of the doorway just as the bell rang. "I'm sorry, I know it sounds weird…"

"It's okay, I'll talk to you later, and you're not weird, or at least not that weird. Ok?" I smiled at him as I walked past him into the school; and I swear he had the stupidest grin on his face. The more I thought about it, the more I regretted it. What if he was entertaining thoughts of the two of us! Together! As I walked to my locker, I suppressed a shiver. Sure, he looked nice enough, but still…

I decided not to think about her encounter with Grover for now; and it worked for the most part… although, it didn't help that he would try to strike up a conversation every time he saw me, or the fact that he was right in saying that we had almost all of our classes together. So, I tried my best to keep up the chitchat between Grover and myself, only listening when I had to (which might be why I missed all the Greek analogies), and before long, the bell was signaling lunchtime. As I stooped to pick up my stuff, I heard my geometry teacher, Mrs. Edison ask if she could have a word with me. "Sure Mrs. Edison, What is it?" I inquired to the teacher, as I straightened up to watch the elderly lady walk to her desk and open her pet Chihuahua's cage, lift the small dog out, and begin scratching it behind the ears.

"Miss Cleak, what do you know about Greek mythology?" The exquisite elderly lady inquired sweetly, with a cock of her head and a scratch to the dog's belly.

"Only what I've been taught in school, Mrs. Edison," I answered back cautiously. I hadn't cared much for Mrs. Edison, and it hadn't been a secret that I wasn't her favorite student, either; so I was really wondering where the elderly lady was going with this.

"So, would you happen to know who the mother of the Chimera was?" The elderly lady's voice was so sweet; you could almost taste the syrup that dripped off of her tongue, although, there was something wrong with it. There was a tinge of bitterness to it… almost like poison.

"Umm… The Chimera's mother was Echidna, right?" I involuntarily took a step back as she noticed the Chihuahua start to grow. Wait- why was a Chihuahua growing?

"Ha! Ha ha ha! You are correct Miss Cleak, I am the mother of the Chimera!" The Chihuahua jumped out of Echidna's arms, seamlessly morphing into a giant lion-headed, goat-bodied, serpent-tailed, fire-breathing, poisonous Chimera. Right in front of me; and I had no idea what to do.

Even though I was scared beyond any fear that I'd ever known. Even though I was too scared to think, my body acted anyway. I turned on my heel and ran for the doorway, and as I did so Echidna let out a terrifying scream of rage and I heard the Chimera loose a great stream of fire; when I felt the heat coming, I dived forward. At the end of the dive I rolled to my feet, and fearing that the Chimera would be right above me, I sprung forward with such force that only terror and adrenaline combined can create.

As I ran for my life, I couldn't help but wonder what just happened, or when I was going to wake up, because this was obviously a dream. As I rounded a corner, someone burst out of a classroom, and it was then that my thoughts were interrupted, not by the continuous screeching of Echidna or the roaring of the Chimera; but by the sudden bleating of a goat. It was from the person that had just arrived on the scene that the sound had come from, and as I ran past this goat-sounding person, I looked back at them; then I looked back at them again. It was Grover; I was sure of it. Grover was baa-ing like there was no tomorrow.

"_Grover? _What are you doing_! Run! Now!_" I yelled after him without stopping, but he must have heard me, because he had stopped bleating and had already begun to overtake me.

"Allison! Thank the Gods you're all right! Who's after you? Do you know?" He looked back at me to make sure I was still there and I could see the worry on his face.

"Grover, what's happening? Why- what- who was it?" I was in near hysterics; I buried my face in my hands, but continued to run.

"Listen to me, Allison, it's going to be okay; they won't attack us in public, we just have to get to camp. Everything's going to be alright Allison, who's chasing us?"

Through sobs and laughter, I managed to tell him that it was Echidna and the Chimera chasing us. "Ok, it could be worse, then." He said with a hint of a smile as we ran out of the school and back into the subway station from whence I'd came this morning.

As we went to get tickets, I asked Grover where we were going. "We're going to Camp Half-Blood. It's our only option. You get the tickets; I've got to use the bathroom. Ok?"

"Whoa, wait up, what's Camp Half-Blood? And what about my Dad? He doesn't know what's happening." I said as I scrunched my face up, thinking about where I'd heard that before, but I was talking to myself, he'd already left me for the bathroom. "I don't know what's happening," I added as an afterthought as I went to get the tickets.

Grover sighed as he as he sat down in the train and began to explain, "Allison, the Gods are real, all of them, including your mother. That means that all the monsters are real, too. So, since you're a half-blood, you'd never be safe out here in the real world, monsters would try to attack you, like today- why Echidna would come after you is beyond me, though. Camp Half-Blood is a sanctuary for half-bloods, you get training to fight back against the monsters." just then, a major revelation hit me. "Hold on, Grover, back at school- you were bleating like a goat, weren't you; and my mom? My mom died in a car accident when I was a baby, my dad told me so. "

He just kind of frowned at me and said, "Yeah, I did, I'm a Satyr, and of course he did. A half-blood's scent isn't as strong when they don't know; now that you do, even more monsters will be coming after you. They must like your scent, I've never smelled a demigod like you before…."

"Of course, that makes sense, and are you saying that I smell funny?" I blushed slightly as I realized how silly I was being.

. With all the adrenaline in my system being shot; I just leaned my head on Grover, told him thanks, and passed out.

A terrible screeching filled my ears, as I started awake. I jumped up, disoriented at first, and then I heard Grover. "Hey, sit down, everything's ok."

"Oh, sorry…" I mumbled, as I went to sit down again. "So, how much longer till we get there?"

"Actually, I think I was wrong to tell you to sit down," He smiled his little smile, "This is our stop." He stretched languidly as he stood, and I momentarily forgot that his legs were those of a goat. As he walked from the subway car, I followed close behind. We continued out of the station and back into the sunny New York afternoon, Grover talked a cabbie into taking us out to Long Island. So we settled in for the ride, with Grover smoothing some of the edges about this whole situation some as we went.


	2. The Grapes of Wrath sort of

_A/N: Ok guys, I'm not going to beg for reviews, but this is my first story. So I'd really like to know what I could do better. Besides the lack of action, I'll get to that later._

**The Scourge of the Titans: A new Hope**

_Chapter 2_

_The Grapes of Wrath… sort of_

"Ok, thanks for the ride, this is where we get off at, man." Grover told the cabbie as he looked out the window at a beautiful hill-scape topped by a giant pine tree with something shining in one of the lower boughs. As Grover handed the cabbie the money, I could see the silent war the cabbie waged with himself; should he be professional, and let us out here without a question, or should he insist that we not get out here, and take us back to our parents' house. Grover must have seen this, too, because he said to the cabbie with the slightest hint of a smile, "Don't worry, my parents have an estate in the woods here, and we'll be staying there for the weekend." After we'd gotten out, we turned to see the cab do a U-turn in the street and head back to the city. Once he was out of sight, we turned towards the tree and trudged on up the hill. Half-Blood Hill, Grover had told me it was called Half-Blood Hill.

As we neared the tree, I could see something stirring around the base of it that I hadn't seen previously. It was about twenty feet long and scaly… what's twenty feet long, scaly and guards a tree? A dragon, that's what. Worried for our lives as I thought about all the horrible things I'd read about dragons, I voiced my concern about the dragon; Grover told me that it wouldn't bother us if we didn't try to touch the Fleece. When I asked what fleece he was talking about, I remembered the shiny thing in the tree's branches. "Wait- you mean the Golden Fleece? Wow…"

"Yeah, _The_ Golden Fleece, pretty sweet, right?" He said with a tremendous smile. Just then, we reached the top of the hill, and I stopped there. It wasn't the most magnificent thing in the world, but it was wonderful all the same; from the neatly manicured strawberry fields, to the twelve equally beautiful cabins shaped in a U across the valley. As I looked on this expanse of splendor, I felt an emotion that I had not felt outside of the presence of my dad- or my dream mom- in a very long time. I had hope. I sincerely hoped that I would fit in here, otherwise where would I fit in? There was no other place for me besides here; Grover had told me so.

"You will, Allison, give it time, you will." Grover said cryptically with a slight smile on his face."

"What are you talking about?" I said, looking at him with an obviously puzzled expression.

He sighed, although why he did, I'm not sure. "Satyrs can feel strong emotions, like that burst of hope you just unleashed on me, that was better than caffeine, I swear."

I blushed as I decoded his original statement, then decided to ask him since he knew what was on my mind anyway "Oh… yeah, of course I will, but how long will it take for me to fit in?"

He shrugged as he started down the hill, "Who knows? Anyway, we need to go and check in with Chiron, come on." I sighed at his unsatisfying answer, then followed his lead down to the giant-looking three-story farmhouse; where there was a very pudgy man with the red nose and cheeks of someone who'd been drinking sitting on the deck of said house along with a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. They looked up from the card game that they were playing as we approached them. The fat little man just glared at me and went back to arranging his hand; but the middle-aged man looked up at me and smiled. "Why hello, Miss Cleak. I trust Grover kept you out of to much trouble?" He inquired with such innocence that I couldn't help but be taken aback by his gentle appearance, as he gestured for us to sit in the two unoccupied chairs around the card table.

I answered his question as I walked around to the chair opposite of Mr. D, with Chiron being on my right. "Yeah… yeah, we didn't have anymore trouble after the school," I couldn't help the tinge of timidity that had edged its way into my voice as I sat down and continued speaking, "but how do you know who I am? I don't know you, do I?"

He chuckled at my obvious concentration as I tried to recall ever seeing him, "No, I don't believe you do know me; however, when Grover left you in the Subway station to go to the bathroom- do you recall that? He sent us an Iris-Message during that time, detailing your run-in with Echidna and his plan to get you safely to camp. Obviously, his plan worked-"

"Better than I could have hoped for it to, Chiron." Grover said excitedly as he leaned forward over the table and began to rush out our tale. At the mention of the legendary trainer of Hercules and other great heroes, I looked at him in a different light, then cocked my head slightly as I wondered why he, a centaur would be in a wheelchair. I saw him catch me looking at him and he just smiled and waved me off, as if to say: 'I'll tell you later'. "As Allison said, we encountered no other monsters after we escaped Echidna and the Chimera. Although, I think I might have smelled one in the subway station. It could have just been my imagination, though-"

Just then, the short, squat man who had previously ignored me cleared his throat rather noisily. Which I took to mean that everyone got the gist of it and the topic was closed now. "Ah, yes Mr. D, I do believe that I take the hand… again." Chiron said with a sly grin and a slightly reproachful tone, as if to say, 'don't interrupt people, it's rude' as he placed his cards face up on the table. The little fat man that was Mr. D just grumbled louder and waved his hand in the air, which produced a Diet Coke that he promptly caught and opened before taking a swig of it. After seeing a Chihuahua transform into a Chimera, you'd think an appearing can of Diet Coke wouldn't affect me like it did. I broke into muffled laughter, which caused everyone to look at me. Once they did, I suppressed the laughter into sporadic giggle spasms. "Are you alright, oh, what was it… Alexis Crane?" Mr. D said with an edge of both caution and something darker.

I looked him in the eyes as I answered him. "It's Allison Cleak, and yes, I'm fine. I was just wondering, if you could make things appear like that… why Diet Coke?" This was actually an honest question, but Mr. D obviously didn't see it that way, because after I'd finished speaking, I could see a sort of purple fire in his eyes. That's when I wondered what the D stood for.

"You want to know why I drink Diet Coke? Why not? You got something against Diet Coke? I think it's pretty good. You want to know why I'm here little miss? My father sent me here to sober up. My father also assigned some community service, that's why I'm here; I'm here for one hundred years, to lead this camp to its prosperity or to its demise. Do you think I want to be here? I don't!" As he spoke the violet flames in his eyes flickered, as did my vision, the edges of which were tinged red as my ears pounded like a bass drum was being beat against my head; I truly felt like I was going mad as I stared on at the now standing man.

"Oh, ok- thanks for clearing that up… I'm sorry sir-" I was thinking about what the D could stand for as I was speaking; then I remembered him saying that he was sent here to sober up. "Dionysus, that's what the D stands for- you're Dionysus, aren't you?" I said, a bit more humble this time, so I didn't rile him up again.

He clapped once, and I could see the violet blaze in his eyes was dying down as the pounding in my ears and the rush of blood to head ceased, "Bravo, you figured out what God could be sobering up whose name started with D, good job- and be glad that you didn't say Demeter. The last person who did got turned into a dolphin." I thought about that for a second, then remembered that Dionysus _was_ a God, so I decided that I should show some respect; so I stood and held out my hand to shake and said that it was nice to meet him. He just laughed at me and sat back down before saying that I was the first half-blood to attempt to shake his hand and that he might like me after all, maybe. I lowered my hand back to my side as I sat back down and remembered Chiron and Grover. Grover was chewing on a tin can, which I found a little weird; while Chiron was sitting exactly where he had been, with the most serene expression I'd ever seen, as if he'd seen this all before (thinking back on that now, he probably had). While I was still focused on Chiron, Mr. D started to talk again, "Satyr, why don't you give Miss Creek the grand tour, I'm tired of looking at her." After I heard that, I changed my mind about him, it wasn't nice to meet him.

So, Grover took me to see the rock wall, with lava falling down it and treacherous traps all the way up it. From there we went to see the amphitheater, where a couple of Aphrodite's children were arguing with some kids from Demeter's cabin about whether a tragic romance or an epic quest of self-discovery made a better play. I didn't want to get involved; so instead we went to look at the cabins. They were all extremely beautiful, but none of them seemed to fit me; Grover didn't think one would. After I asked him why, he just referred me back to the smell conversation on the subway. Afterward we were going to go to the stables and then maybe to the armory or the arena, but as we started walking that way, I heard a noise sound in the distance; Grover informed me that it was a conch shell, and that it signaled meal times. So we turned and walked East towards the dining pavilion.

When we neared the mess hall, Grover told me that I was to sit with the Hermes cabin. Since Hermes was the patron saint of travelers, his cabin accepted all newcomers to the camp before their immortal parent claimed them, then they went to live in that cabin. When I asked if he was going to sit with me, he looked a little wary at first, then his expression softened as he said, "I'm sorry Allison, I know that you don't know anyone here but me; but I need to go and check in with some of my other friends and… and Juniper, my girlfriend." When I heard Grover say 'my girlfriend', my heart stopped for a fraction of a second, I don't know why, I mean, he wasn't even my _species. _ I shouldn't have any feelings for him beyond gratitude for his saving my life. Maybe that's what it was; emotion confusion from the long day and the sensory overload of learning about a part of your life you never would have thought possible. That's all it was… maybe. Then his voice interrupted my rationalizations, "After dinner I'll introduce you guys, ok?" I numbly answered him, "Yeah, sure, I'd like that." I finished speaking with a smile as I walked past him to find the Hermes table.

It wasn't hard to find. I walked towards the rowdiest picnic table, already overflowing with blond-haired, blue-eyed bodies covered with orange t-shirts that must have said Camp Half-Blood. I sighed, thinking to myself, best to get it over with quick, right? "Hello? I'm Allison Cleak, and I'm a new camper. I don't know who my Olympian parent is, so… I'm with you guys, right?" I stood there for several minutes feeling like an idiot until the two oldest of the group- or the two who looked oldest at least- both looked up at me. I suppressed a gasp as I looked at their mischievous faces and realized that they were twins.

"Yeah, you've got that right- hey guys scoot down and make room for the new girl. Hey, new girl, what'd you say your name was?" The one on the left said to me.

"She said it was Allison Cleak. Pay attention sometime, ok Travis?" The one on the right said as he extended his hand. I took it into a shake, a quick up and down motion; then dropped my hand back to my side as he continued, "Hi, I'm Connor Stoll, and this" he nudged his twin in the ribs for emphasis, "is my brother, Travis Stoll." He said this with a dazzling smile, which I knew would get me in trouble someday. I went to sit down on the now mostly vacant edge of the overcrowded picnic table. As I sat down a stunningly beautiful, stunningly green lady laid a stunningly large steak and a couple large potatoes on the golden plate in front of me. Before I picked up my fork to dive in, I searched for a beverage to pour into the empty golden goblet above my plate. The green lady must have noticed, because she told me to tell the goblet what I wanted, and it would fill itself, although it had to be non-alcoholic. To test it, I said to it, "Lemonade." The goblet then filled itself with near transparent liquid. I took a sip of it, and it tasted like my dad had came and squeezed some lemonade just for me. It was delicious; I loved it. I told her thanks and she went on her way, occasionally placing food on other campers' plates. Now, satisfied that I had something to drink, I picked up my fork and moved to dig in to my delicious smelling steak.

Just before I got to cut off my first bite, I felt the absence of bodies at my table. I looked up, and sure enough, everyone had picked up their plate and moved to stand in a circle around a large bronze brazier. So I got up and followed the people, curious as to what they were doing. Then I saw it- it being what everyone was doing, they were taking the best part of their meal, be it an exceptionally tender piece of their steak, the biggest slice of pizza, or maybe even a big baked potato with all the fixings. Then after they burnt a portion of their meal, they'd stand there for a minute or two, head bowed; I took it to mean that they were praying to either their parent, or the Gods in general. So I lined up and waited my turn. When it finally came, I was the last person standing. I walked up to the flame, took a huge chunk of my beautiful steak, and scraped it off into the fire, along with half a potato for good measure. Then I stood there for a minute praying to all of the Gods, to please, give me a sign; to please tell me somehow, who my mother was. Then I smelled the fire, but it smelled wrong. It smelled nothing like how it should have smelled. Instead of smelling like burnt meat, it smelled like vanilla, the kitchen after I'd baked cookies, and my dad; the fire smelled like scents that gave me hope. This revelation did not give me hope, however. On the contrary, I felt like the Gods were ignoring me. Though this could not be the case. I simply had to have hope; maybe that's what the fire was trying to tell me… wait, why would a fire tell me something… unless someone _was_ trying to tell me something. "Oh, well then, that was extremely helpful." I grumbled to myself as I went to fill my seat at the Hermes' table again.


End file.
